Classical telescopes have very limited fields-of-view, typically &lt;1.degree. and at most 5.degree.. Scanning rates for current telescope are typically very slow. A need exists for a telescope capable of very rapidly scanning a wide field and examining in detail many objects of interest in that field. Prior art methods of rapid scanning include the use of a conventional telescope and a scanning mirror larger than the aperture of the telescope. The mirror is positioned to reflect radiation from targets within the target range into the aperture of the telescope. Such mirrors are relatively heavy making rapid scanning (including stopping and starting) difficult.